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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO Metropolitan Province Tennis Board (BMPTB) chairman Tarwira Chikunichikwa says they have started preparations for the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Under-18 tournament to be hosted by Bulawayo in March.

Chikunichikwa said they had lined-up a number of fundraising projects to raise an estimated $100 000 required for the successful hosting of the tournament.

“We are looking forward to hosting a successful tournament. We have lined-up a number of fundraising activities to enable us to meet financial requirements for hosting a smooth tournament. We have hosted similar events only for the Under-14 ITF series and this will be the first time hosting an Under-18 event of this scale,” said Chikunichikwa.

He appealed for financial assistance from the corporate world to refurbish Bulawayo Athletics Club (BAC) courts for the tournament.

“Tournaments of this magnitude are very critical in the development of the game, not only in the region, but in the country as a whole. Our hope is that we manage to build new tennis courts and refurbish the old ones to enable us to host the ITF event. This requires us to dig deep into our pockets and we cannot achieve this alone hence our appeal to the corporate world to help us,” he said.

Over a 100 players from around the world will converge for the international meet that will see future tennis greats taking to the court.

@innocentskizoe